Roll doffing truck



y 1957 w. H. DEAN, JR

ROLL DOFFING TRUCK Filed May 28, 1954 WILLIAM H. DEAN,JR.

INVENTOR.

BY w; W

ATTORNEY 2,799,415 ROLL- DOFFING TRUCK William H. Dean,-Jr., Greenville, S. C., assignor to Deering Milliken Research Corporation, Pendieton, S. (1., a corporation of Delaware Application May 28, 1954-, Serial No. 433,1es Claims. Cl. 214-350 This invention relates to trucks and more particularly the invention relates to trucks suitable for use in dofiing a roll of material from a loom.

Substantially all looms in use at the present time provide a driven roll for the collection of material being woven and such anarrangement necessitates frequent removal of the full rolls of material. The rolls on which the woven-material is collected are generally provided with a recess in either end and are secured in position by a pair of pins which-are apart of the loom proper and which are adapted to enter the recesses in the roll ends. In order that the roll may be removed when necessary, one of the pins is resiliently mounted and adapted for movement along the longitudinal axis of the roll. To remove the roll of woven material it is necessary that the roll be moved lengthwise" relative to the loom frame-in the direction of the resiliently mounted pin until the other pin is free of the roll. The end of theroll remote from the resiliently mounted pin can then be moved outwardly from the 100m a sufficient distance to allow the roll to be moved lengthwise inthe opposite directionto clear the roll of the resilientl y mounted pin.

Because of the relatively involved manipulations required for the removal of a fullrollof woven material from a loom; therehas not-heretofore been available a suitable" mechanical apparatus for use in performing this operation and at present the rolls are removed in almost all instances-entirely by hand; Further, since the roll is only slightly longer than the width of the woven material when the loonris weavingt'at full width, the heads of the roll are so na'rrow t-liat they-"do not furnish suitable handles and it isnec'essary that theroll' of material be removed by actual contact ofthe loom doffers hands with the woven material onthe"roll'l- Such a procedure is always undesirable since it is substantially impossible for the 100m dolfer to maintain clean hands at all times and the woven material is" frequently soiled during its removal. With glass fabrics such a procedure is undesirable for the additionalfreaso'n' that the pressure of the roll of woven material againstthe workers hands completely distorts the weave of the fabric and it has heretofore generally been necessary :to weave at less than full width in order that there would be;provided on the roll of woven material heads of sufficient length to serve-as handles for the removal of: the: roll from'the looms. A still further disadv'antageof the conventional procedure for dofling rolls of woven material from a loom is that at present even moderately heavy rolls: of material require two men for doffing and'even' with a plurality of men cooperatingtog'ether to doff: a single loorn', the weight of material that can be placed upon the roll before dotting is limited.

It is an ob'j'ect of the present invention to provide a truckad'a'pted for use in thedoffing of a full roll of woven material from aloom.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a truck c'apableof doffing a full roll of woven material without ice physical contact of the truck or of the operator thereof withthe woven material on the roll.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide atruck capable of dofling evenvery heavy rolls of woven material from a loom without undue physical strain upon the operator.

The above as well as other objects of the invention are accomplished by the provision of a truck comprising a wheeled frame preferably of rectangular" construction with a rotatable shaft running lengthwise of the frame. A pair of upstanding arms are carried by the rotatable shaft and are movable with'respect'to' the frame from a position such that the upper extremities of the arms are approximately centered with respect to the width of the frame to a position such that the upper extremities of the arms lie in'a plane to one side of the frame; The upper extremities of the two arms are provided with. means to support aroll of woven material and at least oneof'the arms and preferably both of the arms are also provided Withmeans adapted to contact the end' faces of the" heads of the roll so that the roll can be moved lengthwise for removal from the loom. Thetruck is also provided with means adapted to move the upstanding arms when supporting-a roll' of woven material from a position such that their upper extremities are to one side of the frame to a position such that their upper extremities are approximately centered with respect to the width of the frame- Many features and advantages. of the new truck will be readily apparent from theabove descripti'onl The'truck isextremely simple indesignand operation yet it makes the doifing of even very heavy rolls a one man task. A further advantage of thenew'truck is that it can readily be constructed to'be of such narrowwidth that it may be passed between the narrowest of loom alleys without ditliculty even when carrying a full roll ofmaterial. A still further advantage of the new truck is' that it makes possible the removal of a roll of material wove'n to 'full loom width without the woven material being-contacted, thereby eliminating any possibility of the material becoming soiled or of the weave of the material becoming distorted.

A preferred embodiment of theinvention' will now be described-in detail with" reference" to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing the' truck in load receiving position; and

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of a portion of the truck showing the parts in load carrying' posit'ion.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, there is indicated by the reference numeral 10' a long narrow frame made of angle iron or like material; The frame should be of sufiicient length to accommodate a roll of material from the particular type of loom with which the truck is to be employed and" should be of such narrow width as to readily enter a loom alley between two rowsiof looms. The frame ltlis provided with a handle 11 and wheels or casters 12 so that it may readily be moved in any desired direction.

Extending lengthwise of frame 10 is a rotatable shaft 13 which is pivoted through each end of the frame and carries two upstanding arms 14 and 15 at either end formed from any suitable material such as for instance steel plate. The shaft 13 is preferably positioned somewhat closer to one side of the frame 10 than the other so that the arms 14 and 15 can be moved to extend over the side of the framewith only a small degree of rotation of the shaft 13. A counterweight 16 is also carried by shaft 13 and is spaced therefrom by members 17 and 18. The relationship of the counterweight 16 to shaft 13 is preferably such that the counterweight exerts its maximum rotational force when the arms 14 and 15 are extended over the nearest side of the frame 10 and urges the shaft 13 to rotate in such a manner that arms 14 and 15 are urged to become positioned with their upper extremities substantially centered with respect to the width of frame 10.

Detent means in the form of a pin 19 extending from the face of arm 14 and a catch 20 pivotally mounted on frame 10 are provided to retain the arms 14 and 15 extended over one side of the frame against the rotational force resulting from the counterweight 16. So that arms is desired when the catch 20 is released, arm 15 is provided with an extension 25 which is designed to contact a plate 26 welded to frame 10 when the upper extremities of arms 14 and 15 are substantially centered with respect to the width of frame 10.

The upper extremities of arms 14 and 15 are flared and are provided with convexly arcuate upper edges 27 roll is properly positioned ll] the loom. There is generally ample room for even a thick member at the end of the roll adjacent the resiliently mounted pin since the flange pressing against the head of the roll is generally only slightly larger than the pin proper and the upper extremity of one arm of the truck can make contact with the end face without passing between the flange and the head of the roll. However, on the opposite end of the roll the flange on the driven pin is generally of larger diameter than the roll 'head and it is necessary that the upper extremity of the arm be quite thin so that it can be passed or forced between the flange and the end face of the head of the roll. For this reason it is frequently advantageous to bevel the edges 27 and 28 of arms 14 and 15.

Located slightly below the upper edges 27 and 28 on arms 14 and 15 are inwardly facing arcuate flanges 34 and 35 adapted to support the roll 29 by contact with the heads 32 and 33. The contour of flanges 34 and 35 is preferably such as to coincide with the curvature of the peripheral surfaces of the heads 32 and 33 of roll 29 and thewidth of members 34 and 35 should be such that they do not contact the woven material even when it is woven the full width of the loom. The flanges 34 and 35 should be so positioned with respect to arms 14 and '15 that when the arms are pivoted to extend over one side of the frame 10, the lowest point on the arcuate upper surface of each of the flanges is relatively near to the lower end thereof so that the flanges may be placed to allow a minimum drop of the roll 29 when it is released from the loom. The flanges 34 and 35 should also be so close to the upper ends of the arms 14 and 15 that the upper edges 27 and 28 do not contact the pins adapted to be inserted in the recesses 36 and 37.

In operation, the arms 14 and 15 are positioned to extend over the side of frame and are locked into position bycatch 20. The truck is then wheeled into the loom alley so that the arms extend toward the loom from'which a roll of material is to be doffed. When the truck is properly positioned with respect to the loom, it is wheeled sideways toward the loom so that the upper edges 27 and 28 of arms 14 and pass between the end faces of the two heads 32 and 33 of the roll 29 and the loom structure adjacent thereof and so that flanges 34 and 35 contact the peripheral surfaces of the heads 32 and 33. The truck is then pushed lengthwise in the direction of the resiliently mounted pin and because of the contact of the upper extremity of arm 14 or 15, depending upon which direction it is necessary for the truck to be moved, against the end face of one head of the roll of material, the roll of material is likewise moved in a lengthwise direction. When the roll has been moved lengthwise sufficiently for the driven pin to clear the roll, one end of the roll thereby becomes supported entirely by the flange 34 or 35 and that end of the truck can then be moved away from the loom a sufficient distance to allow the roll of material to be moved lengthwise in the opposite direction and thereby become free of the resiliently mounted pin. Catch 20 is then released and shaft 13 is rotated by means of counterweight 16 so that the roll of material becomes centrally positioned with respect to the width of the frame 10 as illustrated in Figure 2. The truck may then be wheeled through the loom alley to any desired point for the deposition of the roll of mate rial.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

l. A truck suitable for use in dofling a full roll of woven material from a loom, said truck comprising in combination a wheeled frame, a rotatable shaft carried by said frame, a pair of upstanding arms carried by said shaft, movable therewith and spaced from each other axially of said shaft, an amount substantially equal to the distance between opposite heads of a roll of woven material, means carried by the upper extremely of at least one of said arms for engaging the end face of one of the two heads of said roll when said truck is moved lengthwise whereby said roll is moved lengthwise and released from the loom, and means carried by said arms to support said roll by contact with the lower peripheral surfaces of the two heads thereof.

2. A truck suitable for use in dofiing a full roll of woven material from a loom, said truck comprising in combination a wheeled frame, a rotatable shaft carried by said frame, a pair of upstanding arms carried by said shaft, movable therewith and spaced from each other axially of said shaft, an amount substantially equal to the distance between opposite heads of a roll of woven material, each of said arms carrying an arcuate flange near the upper end thereof, said arcuate flanges being adapted to receive the two heads of said roll, and said arms having upwardly extending sections adapted to contact the ends of the two heads of said roll, whereby when the extremities of said arms are in peripheral and radial contact with the heads of a roll, lengthwise movement of the truck causes positive corresponding lengthwise movement of the roll.

3. A truck suitable for use in dotfing a full roll of woven material from a loom, said truck comprising in combination a wheeled rectangular frame adapted to be moved lengthwise between two rows of looms, a rotatable shaft positioned lengthwise of said frame, a pair of upstanding arms carried by said shaft, movable therewith and spaced from each other axially of said shaft, an amount substantially equal to the distance between opposite heads of a roll of woven material, each of said arms carrying an arcuate flange near the upper end thereof, said arcuate flanges being adapted to receive the two heads of said roll, means carried by the upper extremity of at least one of said arms for engaging the end face of one of the two heads of said roll when said truck is moved lengthwise with respect to said roll, and means urging said arms to become positioned with their upper extremities substantially centered with respect to the width of said frame.

' 4. In a hand truck for dofling a full roll of woven material from a loom, the improvement which comprises a pair of substantially parallel upstanding arms having upper extremities of sufficient thinness to pass between the end face of the head of a roll of material supported by said loom and the section of the loom adjacent said end face, and an arcuate flange carried by each of said arms for supporting the ends of said roll by contact with the lower peripheral surfaces of the heads thereof.

5. A truck suitable for use in dofiing a full roll of woven material from a loom, said truck comprising in combination a wheeled rectangular frame adapted to be moved lengthwise between two rows of looms, a

rotatable shaft positioned lengthwise of said frame, a of said roll when the upper extremities of said arms are pair of upstanding arms carried by said shaft, movable inserted between the end faces of said heads and said therewith and spaced from each other axially of said loom.

shaft, an amount substantially equal to the distance between opposite heads of a roll of woven material, each 5 Refe'ences Cited in the file of this Patent of said arms having an upper extremity of sufficient thin- UNITED STATES PATENTS ness to pass between the end face of one head of a roll of material carried by the loom and the section of the g:

loom adjacent said end face, said upper extremity having an upwardly facing edge of convex curvature, and in- 10 FOREIGN PATENTS wardly facing arcuate flanges carried by each of said 451,327 Germany O 25, 1927 arms to contact the lower peripheral surfaces of the heads 

